Saturday, June 13, 2015

Slow Saturday Special: Dumb Disney

ORLANDO — Who’s behind that Mickey Mouse mask? Walt Disney World doesn’t want you to know, and the actors who play Disney characters at the parks say that’s a violation of their constitutional rights.

A union representing actors who portray Mickey, Goofy, and other characters filed a complaint Friday with the National Labor Relations Board, challenging a policy that it says prevents the performers from revealing which animated figures they portray.

Teamsters Local 385 said in the complaint that Disney was committing an unfair labor practice. A grievance filed last week with the company said the two-week-old written policy prevents actors from publicly revealing in social media or traditional media which characters they play.

Violations could lead to disciplinary action, including firing, said Donna-Lynne Dalton, recording secretary for the Teamsters local. So far, she said, none of the 1,200 character actors at Disney World have faced disciplinary action.

‘‘The performers are very concerned because you can’t un-tell somebody something,’’ Dalton said. ‘‘They have family and friends that already know this and have pictures of themselves in their performing roles. It’s out there.’’

Dalton said performers may need to share which Disney character they’ve played in order to get acting jobs elsewhere, but they also respect the idea of keeping the ‘‘integrity’’ of the characters they play....

Disney is ‘‘proud of the role characters play in guest experience.’’

--more--"Bunch of perverted devils over there (they want Minnie to stay mute).(On a personal note, I never thought about it much and it was over forty years ago, but I was molested by Mickey. I was a young child at the time and just kept my mouth shut, but he comes up to us as the family is walking around and he patted my butt very firmly. Hey, little guy! Yeah. Maybe we should know who is underneath the outfit.)UPDATE: I'm the stupid one for I'm off to get a Globe.

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